IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is the continuation of the legendary IL-2 Sturmovik series that has set the standard for PC combat flight games for more than ten years. This new entry into the series will offer virtual pilots an even more accurate simulation of the most famous air battles of World War II.

17 luglio

Today's diary should be particularly interesting to those who tracks the Battle of Moscow development.

As you already know MC.202 Series VIII is the next aircraft in our list of early access releases. I finally have a few fresh screenshots showing the plane's cockpit. It's almost complete, and the August is coming in a couple of weeks already, so you won't need to wait long to get to try it.

Also we've started changing pilots' outfit. The German pilot already wears his summer gear.

7 luglio

Today we're not only deploying the major update 1.101 but also we're starting the long-awaited early access to IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Moscow! This is an important step in the project's development, and we're proud that together with the testers we managed to release this new version in schedule, without any delay.

Everyone who's pre-ordered (or will pre-order) Premium edition of BOM gets access to the first game's plane - I-16 type 24. The release plan for 4 more aircraft is as follows:

August - MC.202 Series VIII

September - P-40 E-1

October - Bf 109 E-7

November - Bf 110 E-2

Owners of Standard edition pre-order will get access to the early game builds of BOM later in October 2015.

Complete change log to v.1.101:

1. I-16 fighter is now available to pilots who preordered Battle of Moscow. Players who don’t have it will be able to fight with it;
2. HDR can be turned off;
3. SSAO can be turned off;
4. Terrain Texture Draw distance can now be increased with a dedicated setting option;
5. New Choose plane screen added to Quick Mission builder;
6. F11 free camera is now available;
7. Your plane's camera should be shaking because of explosions nearby in external view with Cinematic Camera turned on;
8. Improved sun visuals on dusk and dawn;
9. More precise (realistic) calculation of the earth's curvature;
10. Max number of players per server increased to 64;
11. An automated chat warning about insufficient server performance capabilities added;
12. Variations of bomb aerodynamics added for more realistic bomb spread;
13. Bombs can now ricochet if dropped at a low angle;
14. Snap view settings can now be reset with the Reset user settings option;
15. Bombing tips added to the bombsight mode, press “?” to show them;
16. Ammo counter for the hand signal pistol added to GUI;
17. The following rules are now applied to server names:

a letter cannot be repeated more than 3 times in a row (aaa - okay, aaaa - not okay);

names can be not longer than 128 symbols;

symbols (not letters or numbers) can be repeated 2 times in a row max (== - okay, === - not okay)

18. Added cameras attachable to objects:

call in the currently selected object - LAlt + F2;

customisable configs are available here: <game_folder>\data\LuaScripts\WorldObjects\fixcameras

19. Watching game recordings should no longer cause game crashes;
20. Abrupt lightning changes at sunset time were fixed;
21. The issue with the camera jumping to a map corner instead of showing the player’s plane when crashed was fixed;
22. Wind correction setting for bombsights was changes. Now, when all settings are correct the target should not move in the sight when the wind is blowing;
23. The issue with bomb falling through the ground with no explosion fixed;
24. Heavy AA guns will be using contact fuses when shooting ground targets with HE rounds;
25. Pilots gestures in MP fixed;
26. Pilot’s heavy breathing should no longer be heard on the external cameras;
27. Incorrect drag caused by bomb holders on Fw 190 was fixed (thanks to the report submitted by Ze_Hairy);
28. Config files responsible for weather settings was changed (they are now divided adequately to different seasons. Missions that were made before this update must be reconfigured using the new weather config structure;
29. Airfield choice should no longer be instantly reset with a click on the map in Campaign;
30. Server list will not shake when scrolling it;
31. A rare issue with text lines in the list of scenarios only showing when under the mouse cursor was fixed;
32. The issue with the Start button unavailable for some time after entering an MP match as a gunner was fixed;
33. The gunner icon was fixed in MP;
34. The distance controlling element of the He 111 bombsight was fixed (it doesn’t jump anymore);
35. The bubble is moving smoother now in the Pe-2 bombsight;
36. Spontaneous bomb release in Auto and Scope bombsight modes on He 11 fixed;
37. The issue with NaN values shown on the dashboard right after a start in MP fixed;
38. The bug with chat message colors in MP fixed;
39. The 3d marker showing the center of an attack zone was fixed (swords instead of a yellow border);
40. The exploit of avoiding navigation markers with a map on/off trick in MP was fixed;
41. Resetting control settings should also reset inverted axis;
42. Several bugs related to inverting axis (including those bound to mouse) were fixed;
43. Scroll bars in the GUI are now working in a more traditional way;
44. Pe-2 wings could appear randomly broken (fixed);
45. Fw 190 additional guns status lamps are added to start and stop sequences (so they are turned off on parking);
46. Fw 190 flight stick texture error fixed;
47. Bf 109 F-4 и 109 G-2: Z-fighting on seat back and canopy fixed;
48. Enemy AAA should no longer appear close to player airifield in quick missions.

Recensioni

“While IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is still approachable to folks who have yet to unbox their first flightstick, it should have plenty to offer for veterans of air combat”
IGN

“One thing’s for sure, any aircraft that does find its way into this sim is going to be rivet-perfect visually and bally persuasive in the flight modelling department”
PCGamer

“Although IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is simple enough to play, it also features a lot of depth and technical detail. This is much more a deep simulation than the free-to-play flight games that are very popular right now”
Polygon

Edizione deluxe digitale

Digital Deluxe Edition includes the game itself and both unique premium DLC planes:
and

Riguardo questo gioco

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is the continuation of the legendary IL-2 Sturmovik series that has set the standard for PC combat flight games for more than ten years. This new entry into the series will offer virtual pilots an even more accurate simulation of the most famous air battles of World War II. Better quality of content, bigger scale , new physics, more realistic aerodynamics and new game elements set this title apart from all which came before. We have only one goal - To give you a New Higher Level of Immersion!

Key Features:

PLAY:

Robust Single-Player Campaign that features a challenging and innovative AI system. Includes an extensive in-game achievement system that allows players to unlock historically based airplane modifications and upgrades as your campaign progresses.

Realistic graphics and unique visual effects: clouds, lightning, tracers, explosions and huge smoke plumes - all of them fully realized to recreate the aerial combat scenerey of war time Stalingrad.

Flexible Quick Mission mode that allows you to create your own custom combat scenario in just a couple of minutes.

Classic Multiplayer gameplay with dedicated player controlled servers with your favourite settings for team battles and dogfight duels.

Become an ace fighter pilot or try your hand at flying attack planes and bombers where you can destroy tanks, trucks, AAA batteries, artillery units and even armoured trains.

Unique and detailed damage model shows how deadly the weapons can be and will challenge even the best pilots.

For those that won’t make it back to base, each plane comes equipped with a handy parachute!

LEARN:

Action takes place on a 358 х 230 km map - The largest and most detailed recreation of the Battle of Stalingrad theatre ever modeled in a flight simulation with unique structures, buildings and landscapes.

Single-Player Campaign scenario follows the real chronology of the battle starting with Operation Uranus on November 19th, 1942 and continues to the complete liberation of the city on February 2nd, 1943.

Ten Legendary aircraft of the era have been thoroughly re-created using original drawings and blueprints from the Central archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Precise simulation of the flight model allows everyone to learn the special character and limits of each and every plane in the game. Use each of their special abilities and performance characteristics to complete your mission and survive the brutal fight.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is a World War Two era flight simulator. In IL-2 Sturmovik: BoS you take control of WWII planes from both the Russian side and the German side of the fighting that took place during the Battle of Stalingrad. You pilot these aircraft on missions ranging from intercepting enemy bombers to taking out artillery or even war trains.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad excels at being a great simulation, sadly it fails at being an enjoyable game for the most part so I would suggest only getting this if you're serious about flight sims. Before I get started I'd just like to point out I played this entirely with a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro flightstick, the controls are pretty complex and planes are difficult to handle even with a flightstick so if you're a KB&M only player you might want to think about getting a flightstick to play this.

IL-2 Sturmovik: BoS is certainly a game which has mixed reviews on the store page but, despite it's issues, I enjoyed playing it and at the end of the day that's what matters.

+Gorgeous graphics, even on medium settings everything looks great+Excellent aircraft models+Fantastic, realistic physics and fully customisable realism settings though even on relatively low realism settings the physics still feel real+Great and importantly accurate plane damage models+Has a campaign mode, pre-made missions, quick missions/free flight and multiplayer+All of the aircraft feel very responsive+A good mix of fighter aircraft and heavy bombers, not that that's difficult with so few aircraft but more on that later+Simple UI +Very large maps+Great sound effects+The devs are currently working on Summer and Autumn maps which is exciting as the game currently only has Winter maps

-Only eight aircraft (excluding the two DLC planes) which really isn't good enough for a flight sim-Unlocking anything requires grinding in the campaign mode. Having to grind to unlock skins and weapons in a simulation game is bad enough but the fact that you can only unlock things through the campaign is rather disappointing for those who have no interest in playing the campaign, let alone grind the campaign missions, such as myself-They've already released DLC which I think is unacceptable for an Early Access game and such an expensive one at that (just for the record I own the Deluxe edition which comes with the DLC)-I experienced quite a few issues with freezing and crashing during loading screens-Not many graphics options including no way to disable motion blur

Verdict:7

A solid WWII flight simulator with gorgeous graphics and great realism that is let down by its lack of planes and all of the grinding to unlock things. If you can look past the lack of aircraft and all of the grinding or you're simply looking for a WWII flight sim then I recommend picking this up.

***This review was written using a Deluxe Edition key provided by the Publisher for review purposes***

I can see the point of all the negative reviews out there. There have been some fairly dodgy descisions made (unlocks being probably the main one). But this game is, in my opinion, the best combat flight sim out there at the moment by quite some stretch. The flight models are awesome - more so than even the modded Cliffs of Dover, the graphics are supurb, damage modelling is up there with the best of them and the map, although mostly white, is really quite beautiful. At sunrise and sunset I find it easy just to look out of the cockpit in astonishment at the scenery. It really is a winter wonderland. I've been pounced on by quite a few Germans from doing just this. Speaking of which, the AI is pretty good and follows the same physics as the player, which makes it far better than anything else out there at present.

As far as pay to win goes, it's really not. I have both of the addon aircraft and although I like them, I'd never use them online as they simply aren't as good as the Yak or the 109. All the aircraft take skill, but these two probably take more than most.

With this game you may not get a persistent campaign (although I expect a few modders will change that with the new editors) but you do get a very atmospheric, immersive playground with some fairly historically accurate missions. Though they seem cut and paste, they are actually quite variable. You can tell a lot of work has gone into the game and is still going into the game. I expect it to continue to improve but I already play this over DCS and CloD.

In all, get this game, enjoy the flying and the dogfighting, don't get sucked into the points thing too much, and try not to look at the scenery too much either or you will be leaving smoking holes in the ground like I do.

Can I just congratulate the team on a simply superb simulator. Battle of Stalingrad embodies the beauty of it's predecessor, Cliffs of Dover, but with a makeover of it's UI and campaign modelling. With massively enhanced camera views and motion blurring, the feeling both in and out of cockpit is incredibly immersive and very convincing to a real pilot. Well done and I look forward to any future iterations of this series!

This is a game for people who love to fly. It has everything you need for that and if you like WW2 props it's a must have title. BoS is probably best WW2 avia sim available on the market.

To everyone ♥♥♥♥♥ing about CloD, I want to remind that game was barely playable at the time of release. It is still questionable experience if we do not take Team Fusion mod and custom built campaigns into account.

The price is understandable as well, Making a sim is a pricey project and the possible audience is not even a million players. And the devs focused on the most important part of a sim game - the simulation of aircrafts. I like it that way better than rpg without role play (Dragon Age: Inquisition), or shooter without everything but graphics (Evolve). Last one is a total and widely recognized disaster but hey, it's a shooter with graphics, which is equivalent of 800k sold copies.

Most of the negativity comes from the price of this game and actually most of ranting people are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of because their whining is cut down from forums. Actually devs are really nice and honest guys to whom you can speak freely on forums.

Cons:- Price. Still nothing horrible in my opinion. It's on par with many top level games with DLC.

Mixed:- Campaign is based on dynamic missions. Okayish, but could be better. Since story is not a vital part of the simulator I can forgive devs for that,- Unlocks. If you have a premium version you could do an instant unlock, but I have decided to unlock everything myself so that I have a sense of progression. Questionable but understandable decision and it is not a simulation braking feature at any level and I will laugh at anyone saying that the abscence of 37mm on Lagg-3 forces him to "grind".- Oculus Rift. I don't care personally because of its crappy resolution. TrackIR works perfectly for me.- Limited amount of planes but it's quality over quantity. You will spend a lot of time mastering each of them.

Pros:- Planes, physics, damage model... the level simulation is one of the top in the genre.- Really fast and stable game engine.- The feel of flight is just right.

I would only recommend this game to people who use TrackIR, throttle, pedals, and joystick. If you are new to flight sims then I would spend some time in Warthunder or something similar. While the game isn't historically accurate, it is still a fun game to play if you can max out the settings and have patience. This game does appeal to the senses if played in a realism/hardcore style of play. While playing online there are a number of things that make this simulator very fun online, having to distinguish friend from foe is no easy task, coordinating formation flights to targets in sometimes more than 10-15 planes at a time, aerial gunnery is actually realistic and challenging. Overall, I would give this game good review and worthy of picking up if you truly want to play this game on a realism setting. If you are looking for something arcady and keyboard/mouse capable then your money may be better spend elsewhre.